Sunday, September 29, 2013

It goes deep down in
our roots that Bhutanese are reluctant to learn from the mistakes we make. Once
beaten, we are never shy to get beaten twice.

The Tala hydropower
project colony which was built then to support the Tala Hydropower Project
Construction remained empty after the completion of the project, let alone the
ghost town, Gedu, which was built with the promising prospect of serving the
project, enduring very few wayfarers after the project was completed. Had it
not been for the Business school, God knows how the infrastructure would have
been left empty. The amount of money spent on building the colony might have
been very less compared to the cost incurred in building the hydro power, but
it still projects the unnecessary spending.

New PHPA colony under construction

The kuensel issue, 28th
September, 2013, has a story on the Bajothang town and that what will happen to
the town when most of its tenants will shift to the new colony which is being
constructed for the project people. Let’s not talk about how these projects have
inflated the market, and also about how much the hydropower project is
important for nation and its economy. The article here is solely on what will
happen to the house owners who have a big invisible car parked in front of
their house of whose value is decreasing daily? How will they repay the loans
when, supposedly, their rich tenants move to their own colony which will have
everything, right from the shopping center to the sporting facilities? Will the
town on its own sustain like the small Gangthangka survived through the time? Of
course Gangthangkha house owners then did not have any car parked in front of
their building? Right now, I can only think of the house owners shifting their
shops, if they own any, to the coming up new colony and take a rent in their
shopping center that too if the project allow and repay the loan.

Bajothang town. Courtesy: Passudiary.com

The thing about
Bajothang town moving towards the dangerous end should have been avoided. We
already had an experience with Gedu, yet our officials missed on such a heavy
concern. How can it be possible that the DPR preparation did not involve any
Bhutanese experts? That’s a total bullshit, and if it’s true, the grave has
been dug, it’s waiting for the end. Who do we held accountable for loses the
town will be subjected to? And for the projects which would need serious and
consistent infrastructure only during its construction need to build a colony
on the extra expenses? And what will happen to these colonies when the project
is completed? Will we have another college to rescue? And yes, talking about
the college, the Education City comes to the picture. The supposedly
international city, will it be able to attract the foreigners to come and study
in Bhutan? And if it fails to sell its product to the projected masses, will it
target the local students at much cheaper rate? And if it does, how will the
private colleges get affected? Our country and population is too small for so
many big things.

Perhaps none of the
above situations will happen, supposing that my not-so-researched article is
utterly wrong? But then, how do we know also about the governments after
thoughts on the project sustainability as the information is very much private
and not made public. Some Dorji and his friends know, but then they don’t care
to educate the lesser minds like us. We
are already in such a delicate situation that the future seems to be burdened
more with the unthinkable situations. Government encouraged people to build the
town but never told about the guest who will build its own house.

Saturday, September 7, 2013

These
days the job providers always claim that there are enough jobs for our unemployed
youth and yet, our youth prefer to stay unemployed. It triggered me to kind of
defend these youths who are left unemployed and kind of think why there are so
many jobs that are rejected by the youth even though most of them are
succumbing to the harsh realities of unemployment.

I
got myself employed for a job in a consultancy till I decided what to do;
whether to appear common civil service exam or start my career in private
entrepreneurship. My boss who is an architect tells me on that particular day
of my employment that these days the house rents have doubled, food expenditure
has also doubled, fuel prices have also doubled, but on the other hand,
architects fees have gone half. It struck me right up.

There
was a point, in fact a strong one. The rise in the expenditure and the raise in
salaries, never go equally. In Thimphu alone, one does not get a house for less
than 8000 nu/month. For a simple person who is working in a company that
manufactures furniture cannot afford a house of Nu.8000 with his meager salary
of Nu.6000. The quality of life to be good and healthy would mean to have a
proper space to cover one’s head, proper clothes, proper food and good
facilities. Let alone about getting his kids into a proper school, or helping
his aged parents with some money at the end of the month or during the annual
puja, simple living standard is also beyond his ability. We live in a situation
where job qualities do not match the living expenditure. House rents are like
touching sky, and even then we have shortages of houses which would mean that
the escalation in the rents would be unarguable in near future.

Let’s
talk about government jobs. Firstly, whenever we have youth unemployment
increasing so much, everyone stares at Labor Ministry, now perhaps more than
that we might stare at our government as they promised 100 % employment. Every
year thousands of graduates flock to Thimphu in search of jobs. Looking at the
number of jobs created by government and private sectors, the job intake would
mean that we are way short of the jobs which these graduates would take up
proudly and enthusiastically. There are also situations, where students are
sent outside to study some courses by RCSE and DAHE only to come back and find
that there are no jobs suited for the course which s/he was sent to. Either the
course is so hi-tech that government does not find the need of employing a
person who has mastered in such a big course or the government has not been
able to find the place where the studied education could be placed into use. Where
do we blame?

Picture Courtesy- Bhutan Observer.bt

And
there are youths who are trained in vocational training institutes, and yet we
have foreigners working even in the construction of simple structures. At a
glance, we might blame our youth for the pride that one cannot digest, but no
one looks at the job quality like better salary, respectful environment. Today,
even the most skilled carpenters have lost their jobs, it can be attributed to
the change in the construction style, but still, for the required work, and our
contractors prefer to get Mr. Kumar from Cooch Behar as he is less costly.

We
live in an age where costs of needs are exceedingly higher than what we earn.
And it seems like we really don’t have answer for these various implications which
are the adverse affects of the development of the city. Today, government has
stopped providing loans, and banks would dry up, more problems would follow.
The ever tiring farming job which is not lucrative as working in a road side
would be forced upon. We live in a ever changing age, and the ripple effect of
the change is so strong to bear.

Monday, September 2, 2013

First
of all thank you, Rekha Monger for actually giving one fun topic to write
something in my blog after such a long time. I know I am guilty of not updating
my blog for such a long time. And there are always some of you who have served
as an inspiration to blog, who I like to thank once again.

1. Why did
you start blogging in the first place? And what’s the story behind your blog
title?

Well, I have always liked writing and penning down
my thoughts. What started as a mere interest ended myself initiating the
literary programs in school, and for that matter, during my school days in
Yebilaptsa Middle Secondary School, with the help of my literary club incharge,
I was actively involved in publishing a weekly magazine. The money that we
earned through it, we donated to the hospital. During my college days, to kill
the boredom and a loneliness, I started taking refuge in the world concealed
between the lines, and soon I discover that I can actually own an online diary
where I can write my own story and let people read it.

My friend during a casual dinner, consoles me that
there's always more to life, which would thus become title of my blog. He was
right, life in fact has more than just loneliness, sadness, etc.

:It's been almost four years, and a wonderful
experience of knowing many avid bloggers on the way. I am based in Thimphu,
though i was in Delhi for three years of blogging age.

3. How do you schedule your blog post? Daily or
weekly? Or as and when inspiration strikes you?

: Initially, i was determined to write weekly on
mostly topics which concerned the everyday life, then i realised, forcing
myself to write just because i want to update weekly, it's not good for my
blog. I mostly end up coming with a simple topics and that it didnot really
involve my full zest. It was like a forced love which is a false love.

These days, i have stopped though to write as often
as i do, but with this rekindling and wake up call, i would try to write as and
when something strikes and inspires me.

4. Does your family and friends know about your
blog?

My friends and family know about my blog, and sadly,
apart from my friends, my families have proved not-so-interested in reading or
writing one. But my friends, some of them read my blog.

Disclaimer

This is a personal blog. Any views or opinions represented in this blog are personal and belong solely to the blog owner and do not represent those of people, institutions or organizations that the owner may or may not be associated with in professional or personal capacity, unless explicitly stated.